Two trips this past summer brought Clinton youth face to face with some of the toughest issues affecting families and communities today: drug abuse and poverty.

From July 28 to 31, nine students from The Morgan School took part in Youth 2 Youth International’s Eastern States Conference at Bryant University in Providence, Rhode Island, which drew 500 participants from Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Students learned strategies for making a positive impact in their communities and preventing prescription drug misuse, marijuana use, and underage drinking, and keynote speakers challenged them to reflect closely on who they are, what they value, and those they surround themselves with—especially their closest friends—as these are the people who will, to a great extent, shape who they become.

“If these people are not positive or don’t hold healthy values, there will be a negative impact,” said Kelley Edwards, prevention coordinator for Clinton Youth & Family Services, who coordinated the trip.

Another key message, she said, was that past decisions don’t necessarily color your future.

“One speaker commented, ‘The windshield on your car is much bigger than the back window. This is because where you are going is more important than where you’ve been. Keep your eyes and intentions focused on moving forward. Your past does not disqualify you from your future,’” Edwards said.

Participants came away from the conference feeling enlightened and motivated, said Edwards, with a greater appreciation of their own families, teachers, mentors, and hometown.

“One student, incoming sophomore Ella Franzoni, told me, ‘My biggest takeaway was that people can initiate change in different ways, but still make a difference. After hearing from students from other states and towns and all they have to deal with, I feel so thankful for the support of my family, the staff at Morgan, and Clinton. We are lucky to have a positive environment to grow up in.’”

Classmate Becca Cockley said the conference raised her awareness of substance use even in small, quiet communities like her own.

“It opened my eyes to drug use within the town of Clinton, and the conference provided things that we could bring back to our town. We met a diverse group of individuals, and it’s an experience I’ll never forget,” Cockley said.

Students came from schools as small as 100 students and as large as 3,000.

Junior Kate Daley was surprised at the statistics surrounding prescription drug abuse and said, “I want to use the information I learned to make my community aware of the ‘pharming’ effects so that we can prevent tragedies.”

Morgan’s Youth 2 Youth participants will give a presentation to their peers this school year. A parent information night is also in the works and will feature a student panel discussing the realities of teen social life.

Edwards said that Clinton’s Partners in Community (PiC) plans to continue to sending Clinton youth to the conference each year.

Morgan School Assistant Principal Tyler Webb also hopes to make one of Morgan’s student excursions this past summer a regular event, possibly in partnership with schools in Old Saybrook and Westbrook.

“In June,” said Webb, “I brought a group of students to South Dakota, to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, to help build houses and work at the community summer camp. Eliot Middle School English teacher Jodi Angus and I were joined by nine students who applied for the trip.”

Initially, 17 students completed applications, but financial and logistical concerns narrowed the group to nine. All students were 10th- and 11th-graders.

The trip was part of a program offered by Simply Smiles, a nonprofit organization that provides food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, infrastructure, and jobs to impoverished communities in central South Dakota and in the remote mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico.

On June 24, Morgan students flew to Chicago, then traveled to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, arriving the next day. They stayed on the reservation for a full week and arrived back in Clinton on July 3.

“While on the reservation, we stayed in La Plant, a small community of about 150 residents,” said Webb. “We stayed at the community center, which hosts weekly get-togethers through the course of the week. In the mornings, we went to different work sites and worked on two homes that were being built by Simply Smiles. In the afternoon, our students boarded a school bus, picked up children ages 4 to 17, and participated in afternoon camp activities with them.

“I think giving Morgan students the opportunity to see another part of our country and witness the despair and poverty of our fellow Americans was important,” Webb stated. “Learning the tragic story of the people who currently live on the reservation was powerful for both the students and myself.”

Every morning, Morgan students rolled up their sleeves and helped construct homes for residents who had been living in substandard dwellings.

“Some were living in temporary FEMA trailers from Hurricane Katrina, which were spec’d to last only six months, but had become these people’s permanent dwellings. Our students got to use everything from caulk guns to circular saws,” he said, adding, “There were countless memories made. For me, our evening reflections were very powerful. It was clear the students were affected by the experience, and they were thoughtful in their comments. One memory that sticks out for me was our trip with the campers to the Missouri River to go swimming. The unadulterated joy was almost overwhelming—it was really special.”

Having the chance to talk to those families for whom new homes were being built was also powerful and rewarding, said Webb.

“Each had a story to tell, and it was clear how much gratitude they felt.”